Apparatus for comminuting, refining, and triturating paper or cardboard pulps



June 5, 1923. v 1,457,8fi5

K. A. THORSEN APPARATUS FOR COMMINUTING, REFINING, AND TRITURATING PAPER OR CARDBOARD PULPS Filed Feb. 10 1920 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig. 4

June 5, 1923.

REFINING, AND TRITURATING PAPER 0R CARDBOARD PULPS' Filed Feb.

K. A. THORSEN APPARATUS FOR COMMI NUTI NG,

l 1920 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 AMA rm- Wfllffn fin reasj zarsen/ Aw; MRZ JUFBA H June 5, 1923. 1,457,865

K. A. THORSEN' APPARATUS FOR COMMINUTING, REFINING, AND TRITURATING PAPER OR CARDBOARD PULPS Filed Feb. 10 1920 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 '35 the peripheryof the rotating Fetente'd June 5, 11923.

. UNHTED stares APIPTUS FOB COMMINUTJING,

i tlt'd dtd 'ESTEN ANDREAS THORSEN, 01E GBENUIBLE, FMWE- Application tiled February 10, race. Serial Ito. 357,749.

(GED ER T PROVISIONS 01E rm AGT F MARCH 3, 1921, 41 STAT. L, 1313.)

To. all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, KRISTEN ANnRnAs Tnonsnn, a subject of the Kingdon ofNorway, and resident of Grenoble, France 5 (post-ofiice address Rue Aubert Dubayet No. 3), have invented a new and useful Apparatus for Comminutin Refin ng, and Triturating Paper or (fardboard Pulp s, for which I have filed an application 11] France on Feb. 8, 1919, Patent No. 498,216, and which improvements are fully set forth in the following specification.

This invention relates to an apparatus for comminuting, triturating, d1v1d1ng,

1 shortening and reducing the thickness of fibres of various'materials that can be used for the manufacture of all kinds of paper and cardboard. These fibres are held in sus ension in a certain quantity of water.

ac pparatus of the character specified is generally known in the industry as a rag engine, and is generally constituted by a cylinder provided with ribs having cutting edges of more or less extent. This cylinder is mounted on a central shaft, the ends 0 which rotate in fixed brackets on levers adjusted by means of a suitable regulating device. Below the cylinder, sometimes above it, and generally near the vertical ax1s, is

arranged a fixed block also provided with ribs with cutting ed es. This block, called in the industry the knife-plate, is firmly secured to a. suitable casing so that its ribbed surface can come into perfect contact with cylinder. In the manufacture of paper, the latter is re'ssed against the plate with a greater or ess intensity, for variable periods of time, according to the uality of the paper to be 0 obtained and to t e nature of the material to be ground. It is well known that the intensity of contact between the cylinder and the plate, and the precision with which the said contact is obtained, are of the greatest importance for the good manufacture of the aper.-. This precision has been dificult to obtain and to control up to now on account of the great weight of the cylinder,

transmits movement to it as well as of the and of the pull of the belt which almost complete absence of elasticity in the parts utilized.

It has been soug t to eliminate the said drawback and at the same time to simplify REFINING, AND TEITUBATETG PM QR @AED- IBO-R PULPS.

the transmission of movement to the 'cylinder by causing the latter to rotate in fixed brackets ancl'by making the plate movable, by exerting on' it an adjustable and controllable pressure. This has led-to various constructions, all of which sufier from the same drawback, viz: the difficulty experienced in mounting a movable plate in a fixed support in such a manner that the material to be triturated cannot penetrate into the support and become thickened therein, thus injuriously aiiecting the mobility of the said plate.

In the present invention, the difiiculty in question has been done away with by introducing the pulp under the plate, so that the pulp then follows the passage formed on the one hand by the outer surface of the carrier which supports the plate, and on the other hand by the bottom or the wall of f the vat, the ribbed surface of the plate being in contact with the cylinder. The pulp is thereupon seized by the periphery of the cylinder, the direction of movement of which is opposite to that of the pulp. The fibres are cut, reduced in thickness and shortened and are discharged by the periphery of the cylinder at the upper part of the latter.

A second object of the present invention is the provision of a movable plate, the space occupied by the plate constituting a conduit isolated from the outside by studing boxes on the shaft of the cylinder. This conduit is fed under pressure by a screw propeller or by a propeller of any other type. The pulp is introduced under pressure through the interstices of the cutting edges of the cylinder, in order to increase its supply and the speed of circulation in the rag or beating engine. In these conditions, the cylinder must be mounted at a high level in order that the slope of the conduit in which the pulp circulates from the outlet from the cylinder to the inlet of the propeller should be sufiflcient to give the pulp a speed corresponding -to the speed of the propeller.

The accompanying drawings show three arrangements. of the plate and of the water tight plate chamber, forming the subject of the present invention.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal, vertical section through the movable part and the cylinder,

Figure 2 is a side elevation of theapparatus shown in Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a cross-section of the carrier for supporting the movable plate,

Figure 4 shows the rag engine in plan,

Figure 5 is a sectional view of the second arrangement, in which a screw propeller is utilized,

Figure 6 is a side elevation of Figure 5,

Figure 7 is a plan view of Figure 5,

Figure 8 is alongitudinal section of the third arrangement,

Figure 9 is a side elevation of Figure 8,

Figure 10 is a cross-section through the movable plate and the cylinder,

Figure 11 is a plan view of Figure 8. i

The apparatus forming the subject of the present invention chiefly comprises a cylinder 1 provided with cutting ribs 2, mounted in fixed brackets 3 and driven by a pulley 4 with a belt, or direct by any desired motor.

Against the surface of the rotating cylinder and concentric with it, is forced with an adjustable pressure the movable plate 5 which is also provided with cutting ribs 2 and which oscillates freely about a horizontal axis constituted by a pair of pivot pins'6 which are secured directly to the plate carrier 5' at opposite ends thereof and are mounted to turn in bearings provided on the frame or body of the engine.

The pressure required to force the knife plate 5 against the cylinder is supplied, according to the construction illustrated in Figures 1 to 4, by means'of acounterweight 7 which is adjustably mounted on the long cross-arm of a T-shaped lever 8, whose stem is suitably hinged or pivoted at its lower end at 8 to the top portion of the carrier 5'; the said cross-arm extending over and beyond the carrier, while the other or short cross-arm extends over the cylinder, as represented in Figure 4. The weight-carrying cross-arm has hinged to it the upper end of a threaded -rod 8? on which is rotatably mounted a collar .8 associated with a hand wheel 8 -A spring 17 is interposed between this collar 8 and a seat or housing 5 pro vided on the top of the carrier 5, and serves to transmit to the latter the presure exerted by the weight 7; such pressure being transmitted to said collar through the cross-arm and the rod 8 and being regulated by the adjustment of the weight, as will be understood, as well as by the tension of the spring which is itself controlled by means of the hand wheel 8 and the collar. The weight is retained in adjusted position on its crossarm by means of a hand wheel 10 and rollers 11 (Figure 1), but can be removed from said arm and mounted on the other cross-arm when desired, as subsequently explained.

As it often happens that a mass of pulp or even a foreign body becomes entrained between the knife cylinder, which rotates at a high speed, and th knife-plate, the latter is moved very abruptly away fromthe former in consequence. This movement is deadened or cushioned by means of the spring 17, so that the lever 8 and the weight 7 are not raised too quickly, which might easily cause breakage. Furthermore, when the engine is empty it is necessary to move the knife-plate away from the cylinder in order to avoid useless friction between them which would produce, overheating in the absence of the water and pulp; and it is equally necessary to separate the plate and cylinder at the moment of charging so as to provide a passageway for the pulp and thus avoid excessively violent shocks. This separation may be effected by shifting the weight 7 from the long crossarm of the lever to the short cross-arm, which latter, as previously explained, overlies the cylinder. The free end of the stem of the lever and the portion of the carrier 5' to which it is hinged are provided with coacting integral tappets or lugs 18 (Figure 1) which are caused to engage each other when the weight 7 is transferred to the short cross-arm; and since the pressure of the weight will then be exerted at the opposite side of the axis of movement 6 of the carrier 5, the latter will thereupon be caused to in this separating movement by means of a v lever 19 fixed to one of the carrier pins 6 to turn therewith during the swinging move ments of the carrier. This lever 19 is re-, cessed or seated at 19 to accommodate one end of a spring 22, the other end of which bears against an adjustable collar 21 mounted on a threaded rod 20 and provided with a hand wheel 20 regulating the tension of the spring; the lower end of rod 20 being pivoted to a bracket 20 mounted on a fixed part of the engine frame. The position of the collar and its hand wheel is previously adjusted, by turning the hand wheel, in such a way that the spring 22 will yield ust sufficiently to enable the swinging movement of the carrier to the extent necessary .to provide together at one end by a cross-rod orspindle menses similar sprockets 14 at the opposite end of the levers 8, so that by turning wheel 13 both weightswill be synchronously adjusted and the pressure exerted by both levers will be the same. depending threaded rods hinged to them, as in the first construction, which rods carry hand wheels 23 for the purpose of adjusting the tension of springs 17 interposed between said hand wheels and the recessed or cupped ends of a pair of lever arms 16 fixed to short rock shafts 16 suitably journaled in the engine frame. The knife-plate 5, in this construction, is carried by a pair of lever arms 5 fixed to the pivot pins 6 and which take the place of the carrier 5 in the first form; each arm 5*"- being engaged by a tappet 9 fixed to the adjacent rock shaft 16. The pressure of the counterweights 7 is exerted through the threaded rods and the springs 17 a on the lever arms 16, and /'is transmitted through said arms 16* to the rock shafts 16, which are thereby turned so as to cause their tappets9 to press the plate-carrying arms 5 toward the cylinder. The plate may be caused to move away from the cylinder simply by turning the hand wheels 23.

If desired, the construction just described may be simplified by omitting one" of the levers 8% and the arts immediately associated with it; in which case, the spindle 12 will also be omitted, and a single long rock shaft will be employed in place of the two short rock shafts 16. This long rock shaft will be provided not only with the two tap ts 9 of the short rock shafts, but also with a third tappet which will be located beneath the central portion of the knife-plate. In the event of the pulp being very thick and consequently circulating with diificulty, a screw propeller 24, or a propeller of any other t pe, is provided as shown in Figures 5- cylinder through the intermediary of pulleys 25 and of a belt 26 or direct by a motor. Its object is to force the pulp with a certain ameunt of pressure under the plate and the cylinder, the latter being' shut off from the outside by a hood 27 with stufiing boxes 28 through which pass the ends of the cylinder. The conduit 29 supplying the The latter have This propeller is driven by thepulp from the propeller to the cylinder is also closed in a tight manner.

The cylinder must be placed at a suitable level, so as to obtain a sufiicient fall for giving a desired'speed to the pulp between the upper outlet of the cylinder and the propeller. v

I claim as my invention 1. In a pulp engine, the combination of a relatively-fixed knife cylinder; a knifeplate cooperative therewith; a movable carrier for the knife-plate mounted to swing toward and from the cylnder, and beneath which carrier the stream of pulp is introduced and caused to flow to the point where it is engaged by the coacting knives of the cylinder and plate; a pivotally-mounted, angular lever; a counterweight slidably mounted on one arm of said lever; and means, including a spring, for transmitting the pressure exerted by the weighted arm of the lever to the carrier so as to force the latter and the knife-plate toward the cylinder.

2, In a pulp engine, the combination of a cylinder, a ribbed plate cooperative therewith, and a movable support for said plate submerged in the pulp in the engine; the slde of the support remote from the ribs or the plate forming conjointly with the inner walls of the engine a channel for supplying the pulp between the cylinder and said plate.

3. In a pulp engine, the combination of a cylinder, a ribbed plate cooperative therewith, a movable support for said plate submerged in the pulp in the engine, and means for imposing a regulatable pressure against said support so as to force it and the plate toward the cylinder; the side of the support remote from the ribs or the plate forming conjointly with the inner walls of the engine a channel for supplying the pulp between the cylinder and said plate.

a. In a pulp engine, the combination of a cylinder, a ribbed plate cooperative therewith, a movable support for said plate submerged in the pulp in the engine, a pivotally-mounted, angular lever, a [counterweight slidably mounted on one arm of said lever, and means, including a spring for transmitting the pressure exerted by the weighted arm of the support to said support 

